Experiment in Terror 09 Dust to Dust(46)

And it was still here, the same cracked pot and everything.

For some reason that made me smile. I looked back at everyone else but I was surprised to see them staring at the house in concern and that Daniel was gone.

“Where did your dad go?” I asked Perry.

She gave me an odd look. “He decided to go to the Natural History Museum,” she said, as if I was stupid.

I nodded, like I understood but instead I was just aware that time had skipped by me again. I looked around and counted Maximus, Ada, Perry and Perry’s mom. So there were five of us now.

All of us believers, I thought. If that counted for anything.

“This is it,” Perry’s mom said, staring up at the windows. “Looks just like I remembered.”

I nodded. It did look just the same. It probably should have been a warning to me, since New York life changes so quickly, but it wasn’t.

The thing was, the house looked abandoned. The front door was even open a crack while the rest of the house seemed to retreat inside its dark windows. The neighbors, very close by along the sides, seemed to have a lot more life and vibrancy. Their buildings seemed to dance in the air.

This building looked dead.

“I guess no one has lived here for some time,” Maximus said, and when I looked over at him, he was inspecting the pot that had held the palm tree. Now the tree was dry and curled around itself, dead to the world.

“I guess not,” I said, blinking at the way the plant had changed. Property like this wouldn’t last more than a week in the city.

“So, we’ve seen it,” Ada said quickly. “Time to head back.”

I looked at her and noted how damn scared she looked. She kept rubbing her hands along her arms, as if it weren’t eighty degrees out and we were all sweating.

“Not yet,” her mother said and I turned to see her on the landing, opening the door to the house.

“Mom, no,” Perry said but her voice sounded like it was swallowed up by a non-existent wind.

It was too late. She stepped inside and disappeared.

Well, fucking great. Like hell I was going to be shown up by my mother-in-law. This wasn’t her damn house.

I ran up the brick stairs, my hand skirting the black iron railing, and followed her into the foyer.

I immediately felt a change in air pressure. I flexed my jaw, trying to get my ears to pop while I got my bearings.

I stood in the foyer and looked around. My body immediately calmed, like a wave of clarity came over me. I had done good. I don’t know how, but I had done good by coming here, by bringing everyone.

The place was dark, all familiar shadows. A thick layer of dust coated the floor and stuck to the chandelier above. Everything was exactly how I remembered it, down to the furniture. Even the same paintings hung from the walls, including one I used to love, Renoir’s Les Dejeuner des Canotiers. While Perry’s mom walked forward, stepping cautiously down the hall, I ducked into the living off to the side.

It had the most light, the windows large and tall, facing the street. There was a Christmas tree in the corner of the room branches brittle but still green, strands of cobwebs strung up over the lights. Stranger than that, there were presents underneath it. Just a few, but they were there, still wrapped. Waiting.

I stared at that for a few moments. I could almost make out “Declan” on one of them. A strange droning, buzzing sound came from inside the package and I had the sudden urge to go look at it, open it, but suddenly Perry was at my side.

“What the hell?” she breathed and I froze in a cloud in front of her face. I hadn’t even noticed it had been that cold in here. “Whoever was here last, must have had to leave before Christmas time.” She timidly walked across the room, to the mantle above the fireplace where Michael’s trophies were displayed. “I can’t believe they never came back for their stuff.”

I was here last, I thought as she peered at the closest trophy.

She looked to the next trophy, blinking hard. “These are all for Michael O’Shea,” she said, her voice soft and confused. “I don’t get it.” She looked at me. “Dex, was your family the last ones in this house?”

“This is all our stuff. But it I don’t know, there must have been other people. That was so long ago. We would have sold the house, I know we would have.”

“Wow.” I turned to see Maximus behind me, taking it all in. “You can feel that, right?”

“It’s freezing,” Ada said, stepping into the house, the last of us. “And it’s giving me the willies.” She went to close the door behind her and Maximus shouted out, “No, don’t!”

But it was too late. The door closed. Not sure why that made me smile.